Blanche is scratching quite a bit last few days, ever since I introduced Dorothy. She also bites at herself and has a cut on her leg. Yet any time I've seen a squabble (and haven't seen one in a few days, as they now seem to be getting on the best) its only ever been Blanche dominating Dorothy, who has only been with us a few days, so I wonder if Blanche is doing this to herself

Just watched her bite and scratch for a full 5 minutes. Dorothy sometimes scratches but Blanche seems worse. Is it possible Blanche has caught something from Dorothy?? Like mites or something?? Blanche never scratched before, at least not like this!

If so, what do I do? Any remedies for mites etc in pet shop seem to be for dogs/cats. I don't know what's suitable for a rat. I'm not even sure if it is mites. She hasn't eaten anything unusual and haven't changed detergents, only change is the introduction of Dorothy.

Blanche is being treated for resp infection atm, and I don't want this compromising her health.

It could me mites or lice, or it could be barbering due to stress.Can you see any tine bugs on her? I think lice are little red dots, but I always get confused.. Anyway, I think it's mites they always have, but they can get flare ups when stressed. If it were me, i'd treat for lice/mites, whichever isn't the one they always have (sorry i'm really not good at remember, Zounds can explain it better). I use beapher spot on http://www.beaphar.co.uk/productdetail/anti-parasite-spot-on-for-rabbits-guinea-pigs-rats-ferrets/1056/that's on their website just to show you, but you can prob get it cheaper elsewhere. You'll need to weight Blanche as that one is only for pets over 300g & if she's not get the one for hamsters.All you do is squeeze the pippette out on her back below the head, prob about where the shoulders meet. You only need one pippette and it lasts 4 weeks (if i remember right). You shouldn't need to dose again. I can't remember if you need to dose both or if the lice/mites only stay on one host.. Hopefully someone else will come and confirm all this, but hopefully the spot on should get you started.

Just read an old post from when Schuster was doing this. Mites are the microscopic ones that they always have, but can flare up during stress. I'm fairly sure beapher spot on will deal with both but. Also, I forgot to add, just keep an eye on her as you're doing. Schuster barbered for a week or two for no apparent reason- I put it down to stress perhaps because of changed bedding. But after I treated her she was fine again after a few days. Hope she's alright.

Agree with Rach you could ask your vet for Ivermectin, and it's a tiny tiny drop on the back of the neck, but to be honest, the Beaphar is probably easier for you to use. It should pose no problems with her other medication. My guess is that she is stressed and has a mite flare up. The good thing about the spot ons is that even if she's caught something from Dorothy, it'll kill that too.

xx

_________________Laura Woods Bongo Fury Rattery - Hobby rattery breeding for Russian varieties and Mink and Cinnamon with plans for Pearl based in the future. Based in West Cork. We are NFRS and IFRA members.